Apparatus for mounting camper bodies and the like

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a tiltable stanchion-type jack for mounting and demounting camper bodies and similar units from the bed of a pickup truck. Each stanchion of both the front and rear pairs thereof is characterized by an inverted Y-shaped configuration that results in a bifurcated foot. With the four stanchions in vertical position, these feet support the demounted unit in freestanding condition without the benefit or need for front-to-rear bracing of any type and at a height when the truck bed can be backed into place therebeneath. The invention further includes a telescopable front stanchion subassembly and a modified form of stanchion having an adjustable shock absorber incorporated therein.

United States Patent [191 Reeves [451 Feb. 25, 1975 APPARATUS FORMOUNTING CAMPER BODIES AND THE LIKE [76] Inventor: Charles F. Reeves,1200 S. Monaco Pky., Denver, Colo. 80222 [22] Filed: Feb. 15, 1974 [21]Appl. N0.: 442,774

[52] U.S. Cl 254/49, 214/515 [51] Int. Cl B66f 7/26 [58] Field of Search254/45, 49; 280/150.5; 214/515 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,049,210 12/1912 Cole 254/45 2,868,401 H1959 Lelois 214/515Primary Examiner-Al Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-Robert C. WatsonAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Edwards, Spangler, Wymore & Klaas [57] ABSTRACTThis invention relates to a tiltable stanchion-type jack for mountingand demounting camper bodies and similar units from the bed of a pickuptruck. Each stanchion of both the front and rear pairs thereof ischaracterized by an inverted Y-shaped configuration that results in abifurcated foot. With the four stanchions in vertical position, thesefeet support the demounted unit in freestanding condition without thebenefit or need for front-to-rear bracing of any type and at a heightwhen the truck bed can be backed into place therebeneath. The inventionfurther includes a telescopable front stanchion subassembly and amodified form of stanchion having an adjustable shock absorberincorporated therein.

1 Claim, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEB 3 868 O8 8 oul :00

APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING CAMPER BODIES AND THE LIKE,

The prior art is replete with tilt up type jacks for mounting anddemounting camper bodies and the like atop pickup truck beds; however,such units usually have four plain stilt-like legs terminating at thelower end in a single foot that defines a fulcrum by means of which thebody supported thereon is raised and lowered. In most instances, latchescannot be relied upon to maintain these legs in upright position and, asa result, the legs on each side of the unit are slightly inclined inparallel relation and then interconnected by some type of diagonal bracenecessary to store the unit in freestanding condition. Chains can evenbe used for this purpose, however, regardless of how the assembly isbraced, it remains highly unstable and, therefore, dangerous to bearound when left in freestanding condition.

Mounting and demounting also creates certain problems with the prior arttilt-up type jack assemblies which may well be responsible for the factthat few are used even though they have been around for some time. Tobegin with, when a rigid diagonal brace is used to maintain afreestanding condition, it must be removed or atleast have one enddetached before the legs can be tilted forwardly to lower the body downonto the bed. As soon as this brace is removed, however, and before thebody rests on the truck bed, the whole assembly is highly unstable,virtually uncontrollable and otherwise extremely dangerous to be around,especially if it starts to tilt rearwardly.

Both the flexible and rigid diagonal braces usually under rather heavytensile loading while the unit is standing by itself and, as such, thesebraces become rather difficultto detach. Also, if these braces go from afixed point on the front leg to a fixed point on the rear one, itbecomes very diffic ult to adjust the length of the legs to accommodateuneven ground because the length of the brace must be changedaccordingly.

Furthermore, as the legs tilt forwardly in lowering the body supportedthereon down atop the bed, their inclination is such that they can slipquite easily, especially in dirt, on grass or even a hard surface thatis dirty. If even one leg slips, the body is likely to become skewedwith respect to the truck bed and, once this occurs, it becomes verydifficult to rectify sometimes demounting the unit and starting overbecomes quite a problem as the truck is no longer pointed in the rightdirection to raise the unit back up upon the jacks.

It has now been found in accordance with the teaching of the instantinvention that these and other shortcomings of the prior art tilt-uptype camper-mounting jacks can, in large measure, be overcome by thesimple, yet unobvious, expedient of eliminating all front-torear bracingin favor of a bifurcated foot on each stanchion. The front pair ofstanchions are transversely adjustable relative to one another so as tovary the gap therebetween and provide a wide secure footing to supportthe unit in freestanding condition. Each stanchion can, if desired, bemade adjustable both for the purpose of accommodating different heighttruck beds and also to adjust to uneven ground, all without having anyappreciable effect upon either the mounting or demounting operation suchas would be encountered with fixed point-to-point diagonal bracing.

The forwardly inclined front arm of the bifurcated foot provides anextremely stable configuration, especially during the mounting sequencewhere a slip is more critical than when demounting the unit. Theresulting dogleg stanchion will maintain its position on the groundwithout slippage under conditions where a straight leg would beinoperative. The tendency toward slippage, if any, is far morepronounced during the demounting sequence where, if it occurs, the bodyrests securely atop the truck bed and presents no hazard whatsoever tothose in the vicinity. Furthermore, with the unit still mounted, oneneed only seek a better location to demount same.

Finally, the bifurcated feet on the lower end of each stanchion supportthe unit in a stable freestanding condition where it can be latchedsecure in the knowledge that the latch pins are under no shear load andwill remain so except under extraordinary circumstances.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention toprovide a novel and improved tilt-up type jack assembly for mounting anddemounting camper bodies and the like from pickup truck beds.

A second objective of the within described invention is to provide anovel method of using the aforementioned apparatus.

Another object of the invention herein disclosed and claimed is toprovide a set of four tilt-up type camper jacks that cooperate with oneanother independently to produce a stable freestanding assembly.

Still another objective is to provide a jack assembly of the typedescribed wherein the individual stanchions can be made independentlyadjustable of one another without material adverse effect upon theoperation thereof while, at the same time, making provision for adaptingto uneven ground conditions.

An additional objective is to provide a tilt-up type jack assembly witha dogleg arrangement on each stanchion that effectively resist slippagewhen tilted for-, wardly and in which the slippage, if any, is likely tooccur when tilting same rearwardly at which point the unit supportedthereon remains securely lodged atop the truck bed.

Further objects are to provide a tilt-type of camper jack that issimple, versatile, rugged, compact, easy to use, safe and readilyadapted for use on various types and styles of units to be mounted anddemounted from a bed of a pickup truck or the like.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed outspecifically hereinafter in connection with the description of thedrawings that follows, and in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view showing a camper body supported infreestanding position upon the tilt-up jack assembly of the presentinvention as seen from a vantage point at the left front comer thereof;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation to the same scale as FIG. 1 showing the firststep in mounting the body on the bed of a pickup truck;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation like FIG. 2 and to the same scale except thatthe jacks have been shown tilted forward using the forwardly inclinedlegs as fulcrums to first raise and then lower the body;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view showing the elements in the same condition asin FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a section taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevation of the elements in the same condition as inFIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged exploded fragmentary perspective view of the leftfront stanchion subassembly as it would be seen from a vantage pointslightly above and to the left of the left front corner of the unit,portions thereof having been broken away to conserve space.

and to more clearly revealthe interior construction.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view like FIG. 7

and to the same scale as the latter showing the left rear stanchionsubassembly, portions of the latter having,

once again, been broken away to conserve space;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevation to a still further enlarged scaleshowing the design of the bifurcated foot on the lower end of eachstanchion. I

FIG. 10 is a perspective view like FIGSJ7 and 8 and V be rotatedrearwardly through about three quarters of overhang 34 of thecamper andthe side 36 ofthe truck bed will be wide enough to admit the bifurcatedfeet 38. of the stanchions assuming, of course, that a space 40.

to the same scale as the latter showing a modified form.

of adjustable stanchion; portions having been broken away to conservespace as before;

FIG. 11 is afragmentary section to a. greatly enlarged scale taken alongline 11-1I of FIG. 10; 7

FIG. 12 is still another perspective view like FIGS. 7,

a 8 and 10 showing a further modified form of shock ab- 16, inclusivefor this purpose reference numeral. 10

has been chosen to designate broadly the tilt-up jack like I6. Asillustrated. a camper body comprises the dcmountable unit although thejack assembly was origi nally developed for use as a means for mountingand demounting a vacuum sweeping and cleaning unit of the type usedout-of-doors to pick up dirt and debris from parking lots.

The jack assembly 10 will be seen to include front and rear pairs ofinverted generally Y-shaped stanchions 18F and 18R, the upper ends ofwhich are bent a turn from the full line into the broken line positionof FIG. 3. In'some instances, the gap 32 left between the between theopposed truck bed wall 42. and the recessed side wall 44 ofthe camperiswide enough to re-" ceive same.

The rear pair of stanchions 18R can, if desired, be constructed andmounted upon the rear wall 46 of the camper body in just the same way asthetfront pair, however, as shown, they are not mounted for telescopic,but only pivotal, movement within. tubular sockets 22R.These sockets aresecuredto the side wall 44 of the body in transversely-aligned coaxialrelation" by rear mounting brackets26R. The axes defined by I the frontand rear pairs of stanchion mounting members 22F and 22R are,preferably, both parallel to one another and elevated thesame distanceabove ground level so that" the arcs throughwhich the feet 38' swingwill be substantially alike.

Now, the bifurcated feet 38 on the lower end of each of the fourstanchions 18 comprise oneof themost significant features of the presentinvention and reference 1 will be made to FIG. 9 for a detaileddescription thereof. Each foot 38 includes a downwardly and'forassemblyforming the subject matter hereof while nu-. j

wardly inclined front arm 48 that cooperates with the main stemport-ion50 thereofto produce a 'dogleg that t defines the fulcrum aboutwhich the unit is'pivoted d-uring the mounting and demounting operationsas depicted in FIG. 3. The other half of the ,bifurcatedfoot 38 consistsof the downwardly and rearwardly inclined rear arm 52 which, in theparticular form shown; also has a dogleg configuration su'ch that thetip'54 thereof.

V is essentially perpendicular to the ground when the at rightangles todefine horizontally-disposed laterally- 7 extending arms 20F and 20R.The front pair of these arms 20F are each mounted in tubular sleeves 22Ffor,

limited telescopic movement between the extended op.-

V erative position shown in full lines in FlGS.l-6 and the retractedinoperative or stowed position shownin broken lines in FIGJ3. These samesleevesare secured to chions. Both stanchions 18L and I8R=are depicted,for I the front wall 24 of the camper body in transversely alignedcoaxial relation by front mounting brackets 26F. The sleeves thusmounted define a common horizontally-disposed axis of pivotal'movementfor the front pair of stanchions 18F about which theypivot between thefreestanding upright'vposition of FIGS. l, 2,

7 Also, as seen in FIG. 1, this feature provides the jack assembly withavery wide and stable stance when in freestanding condition. The stowedcondition of FIG.

' 3. on the other hand, requires a compact relationship stanchions arein their upright freestanding positionsf Both the front and rear armsofthe bifurcated feet are preferably capped with anti-slip cups 56 ofconventionaldesign. r V FIGS. 7 and 8 to whichbrief reference will nowbe made show further details of the front and rear stanexample, ashaving apertures 58 in their horizontal sections that register inupright position withlike apertures 60 in the, tubular parts of theirmounts. Suitablelatch pins 62 can be dropped through these registeringopenings so asto maintain the jack assembly in the freestanding positionof FIG. 1 thus preventingthelegs from folding back prematurely. Sincethe front stanchions telescope inwardly tobe stowed, the apertures arelocated to register only in the extended operative position of thelatter. f 1

These same two figures of the drawings also reveal annulargrooves 64inthe horizontal portions 20 of the stanehions into. which is keyed aretractable pin 66 shown inthe form of a bolt threaded into a nut weldedwherein the four stanchions are detachably fastened to" r the sides 28of the camper body withsuitable latch mechanisms 30. The front pair 18Fcan, of course; be

swung rearwardly up into stowed position through an I are of only. aboutwhereas, the rear pair 18R must onto the outside of tubular elements 22so as to register with an opening therebeneath (not shown). Theseinterlocked pins and grooves hold the stanchions telescoped into theirrespective tubular elements 22 while,

at the same time, allowing relative pivotal movement I therebetween. If,for some reason; the stanchions are to be detached from the mountingbrackets for storage,

; the user need only back the pins out of the grooves in the well-knownmanner. Obviously, the means. illus' trated for latching thestanchionsin upright position along with the other means for keepingthem fastened to their respective brackets during the mounting anddemounting operations are intended as being merely representative of twosuch connections that could be used, there being many others that wouldwork just as well.

Next, FIGS. and 11 reveal a modified form of stanchion 18M in which thestem portion 50M is rectangular in cross section rather than tubular andconsists of two sections 66U and 66L that telescope one inside theother. Inside member 66L carries, in the particular form shown, a singlepair of transversely-aligned apertures 68 which can be placed inregistry with anyone of several pairs of like apertures 70 in the outermember 66U for purposes of adjusting the length of the stanchion in thewell-known manner. Once adjusted, pin 72 maintains the adjustedposition. Adjustable stanchions 18M can be used in place of either thefront pair 18F, the rear pair 18R, or both.

FIGS. 12 and 13 reveal a still further modified form of stanchion 18Nwherein the stem portion SON comprises an inner tubular member 741..with a cap 76 on the top thereof that telescopes up into outer tubularmember 74U and presses upwardly against compression spring 76 housed inthe top of the latter. The outer tube is vertically slotted at 78 and apin 80 carried by the inner tube rides within this slot to keep thesections in assembled relation. The upper end of spring 76 rests againstan adjustable abutment 82 which is, in turn, mounted on the lower end ofscrew 84 threaded through nut 86 fastened to the outside of horizontalportion 20. The effective length of stanchion 18N under load is, ofcourse, determined by the position of adjustable stop 82. Spring 76, onthe other hand, provides a shock absorbing feature to the stanchion thatprevents damage to the contents of the camper as these stanchions rockupright and assume a freestanding position.

Finally, turning once again to FIGS. 1-6, inclusive, for a descriptionof the method of mounting a camper atop the bed of a pickup using thetilt-up jack assembly of the present invention, it will be seen that thebifurcated feet support the unit in the freestanding position of FIG. 1without the need for bracing of any kind. The upright stanchions supportthe unit far enough off the ground for the bed of the pickup to bebacked into position therebeneath as shown in FIG. 2. Next, as seen inFIG. 3, the truck is moved forwardly while, at the same time, the camperbody is pushed or pulled forwardly to tilt the stanchions in the samedirection using the front arms 48 of the bifurcated feet as fulcrums. Asthe stanchions tilt forwardly on these forwardlyextending arms 48, theywill first lift the camper slightly before letting it down again on tothe truck bed. Note that these from arms do not assume a perpendicularposition relative to the ground until the camper rests in final positionatop the bed thus providing a secure nonslip footing during the mountingoperation. Once arms 48 reach a near vertical position, however, thestanchions can be lifted free of the ground and swung to the rear forstowage.

The tilt-up jack assembly works best with lightweight campers and thelike that can be easily pushed to tilt the stanchions forwardly. Assuch, no connection to the vehicle has been shown nor is one needed;however, obviously, the vehicle itself can, if desired, be used tosupply the power for mounting and demounting the unit so long as enoughslack is left in connection to accommodate the rise and fall occasionedby the movement thereof around the fulcrums.

The demounting of the unit is accomplished by merely reversing themounting procedure. In demounting, however, the vehicle itself isadvantageously used to push rearwardly against the camper therebytilting the stanchions rearwardly until they assume their uprightfreestanding positions. Once the stanchions are upright they may, ofcourse, be locked in the manner previously explained. At this point, thecamper will be raised free of the truck bed and the truck can be drivenaway.

I claim:

1. The tilt-up jack assembly which comprises: four rigid stanchions eachincluding a stem portion terminating at its lower end in divergent armsdefining a bifurcated foot, and bracket means connectable to the upperend of the stem portion of each stanchion and to the load to besupported upon the latter, said bracket means when so connected beingoperative to mount said stanchions for relative independent pendulumtypepivotal movement in a vertically disposed plane extending alongside saidload, the feet of the stanchions cooperating with one another uponplacement of the stem portions thereof in an upright position tomaintain said load in a stable freestanding condition, and the stemportions of each stanchion including an outer tubular element and aninner tubular element telescoped into the latter, a fixed abutment onthe upper end of the inner tubular element, a movable abutment withinthe upper end of the outer tubular element operative upon actuation tolimit and vary the penetration of the inner tubular element therein, andmeans comprising a compression spring interposed between the fixed andmovable elements operative to form a shock-absorbing couplingtherebetween.

1. The tilt-up jack assembly which comprises: four rigid stanchions eachincluding a stem portion terminating at its lower end in divergent armsdefining a bifurcated foot, and bracket means connectable to the upperend of the stem portion of each stanchion and to the load to besupported upon the latter, said bracket means when so connected beingoperative to mount said stanchions for relative independentpendulum-type pivotal movement in a vertically disposed plane extendingalongside said load, the feet of the stanchions cooperating with oneanother upon placement of the stem portions thereof in an uprightposition to maintain said load in a stable freestanding condition, andthe stem portions of each stanchion including an outer tubular elementand an inner tubular element telescoped into the latter, a fixedabutment on the upper end of the inner tubular element, a movableabutMent within the upper end of the outer tubular element operativeupon actuation to limit and vary the penetration of the inner tubularelement therein, and means comprising a compression spring interposedbetween the fixed and movable elements operative to form ashock-absorbing coupling therebetween.